17.042 Citizenship and Pluralism, Fall 2003
Author(s)
Song, Sarah
Alternative Title
Citizenship and Pluralism
Date Issued
December 2003
Abstract
This course will serve as both an introduction to contemporary political philosophy and a way to explore issues of pluralism and multiculturalism. Racial and ethnic groups, national minorities, aboriginals, women, sexual minorities, and other groups have organized to highlight injustice and demand recognition and accommodation on the basis of their differences. In practice, democratic states have granted a variety of group-differentiated rights, such as exemptions from generally applicable laws, special representation rights, language rights, or limited self-government rights, to different types of groups. This course will examine how different theories of citizenship address the challenges raised by different forms of pluralism. We will focus in particular on the following questions: Does justice require granting group-differentiated rights? Do group-differentiated rights conflict with liberal and democratic commitments to equality and justice for all citizens? What, if anything, can hold a multi-religious, multicultural society together? Why should the citizens of such a society want to hold together?
Subjects
citizenship
ethnicity
identity
democracy
nations
politics
class differentiation
pluralism
national unity
contemporary
political
philosophy
pluralism
multiculturalism
racial
ethnic
groups
national
minorities
aboriginals
women
sexual
injustice
recognition
accommodation
democratic
states
group-differentiated
rights
exemptions
laws
representation
language
limited
self-government
theories
citizenship
justice
conflict
liberalequality
citizens
multi-religious
multicultural
society
citizens
diversity
communitarian
civic
republican
cosmopolitan
pluralist
radical
postmodern
American
gender
class
differentiation
liberal
equality
unity
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Political Science
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